Robbery gang may have got away in boat

By David Sapsted

12:00AM BST 08 Jul 2000

ARMED robbers thwarted in their attempt to blow off the doors of a wages van yesterday are believed to have used a boat for their getaway.

Army bomb disposal experts carried out three controlled explosions after the abortive robbery at Aylesford, near Maidstone, Kent, as police impounded a boat at New Hythe, two miles up the River Medway. The gang, believed to be armed with handguns and numbering at least three, used a lorry to ram the Securicor van at about 7.30am.

A police spokesman said: "There were reports of shots but the doors were locked and the personnel in the van did not get out. The gang began placing explosives, apparently to blow the doors off. However, people began phoning in. We had a car at the scene within four minutes but the gang had fled. Nobody was hurt."